


Of Cats and Possessions

by OwneeYuriWorks



Category: Sdorica Sunset
Genre: Crush at First Sight, F/F, One-Sided Attraction, Possession
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-06 01:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwneeYuriWorks/pseuds/OwneeYuriWorks
Summary: Nolva's never had very many friends - being possessed by a "monster" one season out of every year tends to make people a bit wary. When she wakes up in a  strange house after a bout of void sickness though, she finds herself becoming close to the people who rescued her, and even nursing her first crush - on a feline demihuman who definitely has feelings for someone else. Follow Nolva as she wanders through grief, strange encounters, and first loves.Begun before Nolva's character story came out, so she's a bit out of character.





	Of Cats and Possessions

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! As my first work on this site, I'm going to unfortunately start off with a warning - please, do not expect this to be updated too regularly. I'm still trying to get back in the hang of writing, and I don't have too much free time due to my job, but I'm going to do my best. I'm hoping for weekly updates, and I have a little backlog, so fingers crossed!

Nolva opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. "Ah, it happened again," she whispered to herself. "Waverlyde, where did you take me this time?" She scrutinized the ceiling a bit more closely, noticing that it was made mostly of wooden boards, not quite professionally put together, but relatively solid looking. A few bits of straw poked through some gaps in the boards, occasionally vibrating with the breeze outside. Based on the construction, it seemed like she was somewhere on Paradise Prairie. That was odd. Usually when Waverlyde took over she wound up in the forest somewhere, or near the periphery of Atlas. Certainly she'd never woken up in someone's house before, and not still on the Prairie. She slowly got up, shuddering at the feeling of moving her muscles again. Even though Waverlyde made sure to exercise her muscles frequently, it still felt weird every time she moved right after coming back. She stretched her arms wide and stepped in place, getting herself used to moving around again. Looking more at her surroundings, she saw that she had been lying in a small cot, stretched out over a few bales of hay. That explained why despite having just woken up, she didn't feel completely stiff all over. Waverlyde tried his best, but he couldn't always find a great place for her to sleep during the void season, and she'd woken up in trees and on rock hard ground quite a few times over her life. At least he always managed to somehow keep most of her supplies intact. Thinking of which, she realized that her case of puppets and supplies weren't on her shoulder like they normally were. "Oh no, oh no," she muttered to herself, starting to worry. She tried to commune with Waverlyde and figure out what he'd done with them while she was asleep, but he had already gone into his sleep. Maybe in a few days she'd be able to get something out of him, but she didn't know if she could wait that long.

"Wait," she said to herself, taking a shaking breath. "This is a house, and it doesn't look abandoned. I'll just have to find the owner and ask them." She heard what she'd just said and swallowed nervously. She'd never been very good at talking to people. Losing your consciousness for months at a time tends to put a damper on your ability to make and keep friends. She felt herself beginning to clamp up, wondering why Waverlyde had found it safe for her to sleep here. Steeling herself, she looked around the room for a door. It didn't take too long to find - the room wasn't very big after all. She took a deep breath and gripped the door handle. "It's ok, you can do this," she said to herself. "Just treat it like you're putting on a puppet show, or making a sale. It'll be fine." She stilled her shaking hands, stopping the handle from rattling slightly, and opened the door slowly.

"Uh, um, hello?" she said softly, as the door opened. "Is anybody there?" Not hearing any response, she opened the door fully and got a view of the room. It was a lot larger than the one she'd been in, with a thatch dome roof. The walls were a dark wood, but some brightly colored drapes were hung around to give it a bit more color. A window looked out onto a view of the prairie, confirming her initial suspicion. Three other doors led away from the room, though she had no idea where to. She saw a few small cushions laid about, adding to the splash of color, as well as a small couch, barely big enough for two people. What drew her eye quickly though, was the large circular table in the center, and the person sitting there asleep with their head resting on their crossed arms. Nervous, she crept closer, circling the table slightly to get a view of the person's face. As she circled, she found out the sleeping person was a woman, and was dressed in a large jacket, made out of some sort of fur, as well as a pair of yellow shorts. That relieved her a bit, as she felt more comfortable dealing with women than men, at least if she didn't know them already. She managed to circle far enough to get a glimpse of the woman's face, and came to a stop, feeling her own face heat up.

The woman was probably one of the cutest she'd ever seen. She had a heart-like face (a pointed chin, yet round, full cheeks), and her long eyelashes fluttered as she slept. She looked peaceful, though occasionally her face would scrunch up as if she was trying really hard to smell something in her dream. Tracking her eyes up the woman's face to her slightly disheveled brown hair, she was surprised see a pair of cat ears sticking up from the woman's head. "How could I have missed that she was a demihuman," Nolva thought to herself, embarrassed. She'd been so distracted by the woman's face she hadn't noticed the obvious characteristics. As she thought that, the woman's ears twitched, and Nolva couldn't help but let out a small giggle at how adorable it looked. The light sound made the woman's face frown, and as Nolva watched, she blearily opened her eyes. "Brother Roger, is that-" she began, before seeing Nolva looking at her.

"NYA," the woman screamed, scrambling back in her chair and grabbing a couple daggers that had been attached to a belt around her waist. "Who are you and what are-" she began, before taking a closer look. Nolva had jumped back as well, trembling with her hands held up. "Wait," the woman said, lowering her daggers slightly. "Oh, you're awake, finally!"

"Uh, um," Nolva stammered, still taken aback by the woman's sudden awakening. She tried looking everywhere she could but at the woman's deep green eyes. "I, um, I-"

The woman seemed to realize that Nolva was still startled, and noticed she still had her daggers out. "Oh, uh, sorry," she said, putting the daggers back on her belt. "When I saw you weren't Bro Roger I got a bit freaked out. Normally it's just us two here. Oh, I'm Kittyeyes, by the way," she said, holding out a hand.

"Oh, I'm, uh, I'm Nolva," Nolva said, gingerly taking Kittyeyes' hand.

"Haha, it's nyice to finally know your name," Kittyeyes said, smiling widely, revealing a couple sharp canines. Nolva found herself smiling back, her nerves abated for a second. "Do you remember how you ended up here?"

"N-no," Nolva said, "but that's not too uncommon for me," she continued, sighing a little.

"Why's that?" Kittyeyes asked.

"Uh, it's a bit um, personal, I guess," she replied, folding in on herself a little.

"Alright, I won't pry! Everyone's got some secrets," Kittyeyes said, a pained look flashing in her eyes for a second. "Anyway, we found you out in the forest. There was a monster hovering around you, but it wasn't attacking you."

"Is, is that so?" Nolva said. "Wait, what do you mean, 'we?'"

"Oh, it was me and Brother Roger. I guess he's probably still out getting supplies. Anyway, we fought the monster, and eventually it just vanished. You collapsed right afterwards, so we took you back home to recover."

"Ah," Nolva said, wincing in sympathy with Waverlyde.

"You've been out for two days! We had to try and make some gruel or something to feed you. I don't know how well we did," Kittyeyes said, sheepishly. "Are you really hungry?"

At the mention of food, Nolva realized she was starving. "N-now that you mention it," she began, before Kittyeyes cut her off.

"No worries, I'll make something for you quickly," she said, smiling. "It's good practice!" She rushed over to one of the other doors. "Now where's that pan..."

"Practice?" Nolva said, but Kittyeyes had already gone into the other room. Nolva was a bit worried about this whole thing, but she was very hungry. Kittyeyes certainly seemed confident in her abilities, though she had the feeling Kittyeyes just was confident in general. A sudden pain flared in her stomach again, and she realized she was hungry enough to just eat meat that was more charcoal than food. The pain reminded her of what Kittyeyes had said about the "monster' that had been circling her, and she mentally whispered a "sorry, Waverlyde," hoping he'd hear her, even if he was basically hibernating. Remembering Waverlyde reminded her about her doll-making supplies, and she realized she'd forgotten to ask Kittyeyes about them. Anxiety creeping back, she ran after Kittyeyes.

Opening the door revealed a smaller room littered with ingredients and piles of dishes, pots and pans. Kittyeyes was searching through a stack of pans, examining each one before throwing it behind her. Most of them were cracked somehow, or still had a few spots of grime on them. "Ah, geez, one of us really needs to start cleaning these more often," she said to herself. "Ah," she continued, holding a sturdy, mostly clean pan aloft, "there you are." She turned back around and realized Nolva was standing in the doorway. She froze in place, her cheeks turning a dark shade of red. It was one of the most adorable things Nolva had ever seen. "Ah, this is, um, ah," Kittyeyes said, before giving up trying to think of an excuse. "this is the kitchen. Bro Roger and I, well, neither of us really clean, so it gets pretty messy," she said. "But that doesn't mean I can't cook you something good!"

Nolva couldn't help herself and let out a small giggle, and Kittyeyes grin widened. "I-It's not so bad," Nolva said. "I've stayed at places less tidy. Travelling on a low budget makes you used to it. But if you don't mind me asking, why don't either of you clean?" Nolva wasn't lying about it not being the worst, but this place was pretty high on the list of least organized places she'd stayed.

"Well Bro Roger's never really cared much about tidiness, and I," Kittyeyes said, before pausing, her smile faltering a little. The pause dragged on, and Nolva began to regret asking, before Kittyeyes continued. "L-Let's just say cleaning brings back some bad memories for me." 

"Ah, I-I'm sorry to have brought it-" Nolva began, eyes downcast, before Kittyeyes waved her off.

"It's alright, it's alright! I probably woulda asked the same. But that's distracted us from me making you the best dish ever!" Kittyeyes began to gather a few ingredients from around the room - some salt, a couple leeks, some small mushrooms, and a large piece of meat, though Nolva couldn't tell quite what it had come from. Clearing some space on the counter, she quickly got to work cutting the leeks into small pieces, and trimming the mushrooms.

"Um, before you get too deeply into making that," Nolva said, timidly, causing Kittyeyes to turn around, her ears twitching and head tilted questioningly, which almost distracted Nolva again before she got herself back under control, "when you found me, did you happen to see a large box with a shoulder strap on me, or nearby?"

Kittyeyes frowned in concentration, lightly tapping the knife on the counter. "A large box, a large box," she repeated to herself. "Oh, I think there was something like that!" she said, after a little while. "Or at least, there was some big white thing that looked out of place. We were too worried about you and the monster to really think to take it though."

"Oh no," Nolva said softly, the happiness she'd gotten from meeting her savior fading. "They're all lost in the forest somewhere, then..."

"We can go look for it after the food, if it's super important to you," Kittyeyes said. "I think I remember where we found you, so we should be able to find it without too much trouble. We might need to wait for Bro Roger though, it's a kinda dangerous place."

"Really? That would be wonderful," Nolva said, a little more relieved. "That box has a lot of very important things in it."

"Ooh, sounds interesting. What's in it?" Kittyeyes said, continuing to cut the vegetables and mushrooms.

"My um, my puppet making tools. And a few puppets I keep to perform shows."

"Puppets?" Kittyeyes said. "Hopefully not like those creepy ones that walk around the ruins of Atlas." She shuddered, remembering when she'd visited the ruins.

"There are puppets in the Atlas ruins?" Nolva said, confused. "I, I can't go into the ruins, so I wouldn't know. But my puppets aren't anything particularly scary, I think," Nolva said, a smidge indignant. "They're regular puppets mostly. And I don't see how anyone would be scared of Mr. Roar, he's so cute."

"Mr. Roar?" Kittyeyes said.

"Ah! I-I didn't realize I'd said that out loud," Nolva said, blushing. "Um, Mr. Roar is my Lion puppet. I put a lot of slightly frayed strings together to make him look furry, and I also used a bit of a noble's old frock coat to make the mane. I put a lot of work into that one, so I hope it's still alright." 

Kittyeyes, having finished cutting the vegetables, lit the stove and put them in the pan she'd found earlier, throwing a few random spices on there for good measure. "What's a lion?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, they're from the Eastern Alliance. They have a lot of Beastmen there, and one of the types is called a Lion. They're large, have lots of fur, and have a big fuzzy mane that goes around their neck-"

Nolva began to talk at length about Lions, and, through some eager encouragement from Kittyeyes, also began to talk about her other puppets. Meanwhile, Kittyeyes continued to watch the food as it cooked, until eventually she declared it ready. Nolva, realizing she'd been able to hold a conversation for the entire time the meal was cooking, was shocked. "Al-already?" she said. "It's not undercooked or anything?"

"What, you don't think I know when food is ready?" Kittyeyes said, giving Nolva a slight glare, before breaking into a small smile. "Well I do. Usually. At least three out of four times. A-anyway, this is overdone if anything."

Nolva looked at the dish. A few of the mushrooms looked a bit charred, as well as the ends of some of the vegetables, but overall it looked pretty serviceable. "You're right. I don't think I've ever talked for so long outside of a puppet show before."

Kittyeyes frowned. "Why not?"

Nolva looked away. "I haven't really had anyone to talk to," she said. "A-and I don't stay in one place for very long due to my work, so I don't have any friends, really." It was embarrassing to admit out loud. "Anyway, I'd love to eat, if possible."

"Ah! Right, right. Let's go back out to the main room, there's not really anywhere to eat here," she said, gesturing at the table piled high with disorganized plates.

Nolva let out a relieved laugh, and walked back to the main room, holding the door for Kittyeyes.

They had eaten about half the food when they heard footsteps approaching the house. Kittyeyes' face lit up immediately. "Bro Roger's back," she said happily, quickly getting up from the table to go open the door. Nolva was about to ask why he'd been gone, but the joy in Kittyeyes' face made her stop, a hollow pit forming in her stomach, though she didn't understand why. "Hey Bro Roger, Bro Roger," Kittyeyes said, opening the door. "Guess what?"

"Hey Kittyeyes, sorry I'm back late," Nolva heard a gruff voice say through the open door. "Did something good happen?"

"She's awake!" Kittyeyes said, gesturing towards the table where Nolva was still sitting. As she watched, a tall man with bright orange hair and a beard walked in, dragging a large sword and a bag with one arm. The reason why he was using one arm became readily apparent as he fully entered the room, revealing that his other arm was gone, seemingly hacked off just under the shoulder. Nolva tried to school her expression of concern, but some must have slipped through, as he let out a short sigh before leaning the sword up against the wall.

"Yes, I know. It makes you feel uncomfortable," he said, sitting down at a vacant seat. "But I've been living without it for years. I'm used to it, and it doesn't cause me problems, so don't let it cause you problems, alright?"

"S-sure," Nolva said, her nervousness returning. The man continued staring at her.

"Bro Roger!" Kittyeyes said, disapprovingly, giving him a light tap on the head with the plate of food she saved for him. "You're scaring her."

"Kittyeyes," Roger said, frowning. "I had to get that out of the way or else it'd always be awkward."

"Don't mind him," Kittyeyes said, placing the plate in front of him. "He can be a bit scary sometimes, but he's really kind underneath it," she said, a loving smile on her lips. Roger let out an irritated "hmph," before beginning to eat.

"Ah, no, he's right," Nolva said, still a bit shocked. "I-it's good to have that out of the way."

Kittyeyes gave her a concerned look. "Well, if you're sure. But don't go around telling him he's right all the time," she said, face brightening. "He'll let it go to his head."

"Sounds more like something you'd do," Roger said while eating.

"Hey! Is not."

"Is too," Roger said, smiling.

As Nolva watched them bicker, she felt a sense of calm envelop her. The sense of family was something she hadn't felt since her father had died, and made her feel completely at ease. In the back of her mind though, she felt a sense of longing. Wishing she could be a part of something like this too, but she knew by her nature that she'd never be able to. Before she could get lost in the downward spiral such thoughts tended to lead her to, she focused her attention back on the pair of them.

"You have too! You would go around rubbing it in my face whenever mom would praise you for anything, remember?" Roger was saying.

Kittyeyes' smile drooped for a second, before she quickly brought it back up. "Uh, well I was a kid, you know? That's not what I'm like now." She was silent for a second before hurredly turning back to Nolva. "A-anyway, what were you doing out in the forest, Nolva?" she asked.

Nolva, surprised at the sudden change of subject, and Kittyeye's change in mood, quickly tried to come up with a reason. "Uh, n-no real reason? I um, travel a lot, and sometimes my path takes me to the forest." That wasn't technically a lie. She did travel a lot, even when Waverlyde wasn't in control. She usually stuck to the roads though.

As if reading her mind, Roger asked, "Why don't you stick to the roads then? It's a lot safer, if you're not worried about guards." Kittyeyes gave him a short look.

Nolva was a bit confused as to why he mentioned being worried about guards, but shook it off. "I normally do, but sometimes I like to get off the beaten path for a little. Also there's a nice shortcut that goes right through the forest, and it's usually not too dangerous." This was true. After waking up in the forest a few times, she'd discovered quite a few ways to get between the plains and the eastern kingdoms. Waverlyde's subtle guidance had helped her quite a bit over the years, with finding faster ways to travel. 

Roger grunted in acknowledgement, before going back to eating his food. "It is nice to just wander off without a direction sometimes," Kittyeyes said, looking a little wistful. "But I think I like having somewhere to come back to where I know Bro Roger's going to be. Unless he's late coming back with supplies," she said, causing Roger to groan. Nolva let out a small laugh, trying to ignore the sense of loneliness Kittyeyes comment had brought out in her.

After Roger finished eating, Nolva offered to clean the dishes. "It's only fair after all. You did, um, save me, and take care of me while I was asleep. And I actually like doing chores sometimes. It makes things feel a bit structured."

"You don't have to-" Roger began saying, before Kittyeyes interrupted.

"Seriously? Oh that'd be so nice of you!"

"D-don't worry about it. Like I said, I do owe both of you, and this barely begins to make up for it." With that, Nolva took Kittyeyes' and Roger's plates, along with her own and walked into the kitchen. After finding the pan Kittyeyes had used and grabbing it (along with a few other plates she figured she could clean as well), she made her way to the water basin that served as the washing station. After filling the basin with water and grabbing a rag, she rolled up her sleeves and began to clean, letting herself get lost in the repetitive process. While she worked, she hummed a small tune her father had taught her when she was young, which he always insisted was her mother's favorite. At the time, she'd felt glad to know something about her mother, who she'd never had the chance to meet. Now though, it was more a reminder of her father, who had always stuck with her as best he could, even through the void seasons. She always thought he'd made an agreement with Waverlyde, but she wasn't sure how. It didn't really matter though. Her father was gone, and even though she had Waverlyde, which had helped, she still felt the loss whenever she finished making a puppet or performing a show. She sniffed slightly, wiping her eyes of a couple tears. She shook her head and focused her attention on the task at hand.

A half hour later, Kittyeyes came in and let out a gasp of shock. "Nolva, I didn't think you meant you'd do ALL the dishes! That's like way too much, seriously!"

"Huh?" Nolva said, looking up from the cup she was holding. Looking around, she realized that the stack of clean dishes, pans, pots, and cups had grown to a ridiculous degree, while all that was left of the dirty dishes were a couple cups, a bowl, and a small pan. "Oh, I did it again, didn't I?" she said, putting the dry cup to the side. She turned to Kittyeyes. "I-I didn't think I was going to do all of them either. I just got caught up with what I was doing and lost track of time." She looked at her hands and realized they were all shriveled up. "I do that sometimes, when I really focus on things."

"Geez, I wondered what you were doing, but Roger said not to worry about it," Kittyeyes said, frowning. "I'm really sorry I didn't check on you sooner."

"Oh, no, it's ok," Nolva said. "It was kind of calming." It had certainly helped take her mind off things. She was a little embarassed to have done so much though. "Um, I don't actually know where any of these go," she admitted, looking at the pile of clean dishes.

"Ha, that's your concern?" Kittyeyes said, the frown vanishing, much to Nolva's delight. "Don't worry about that. I can put them away. But, before that, I talked to Roger about your puppet supplies, and he said we could go check the area over tomorrow. He wouldn't let us go tonight because 'It's too late,'" she said, making quotation marks with her fingers, "but tomorrow's pretty good right?"

Nolva looked out a window to see the moon had risen above the horizon. "I didn't realize it was so late," she said. "B-but tomorrow is good, thank you."

"Great!" Kittyeyes said. "I'm guessing you're not tired yet, since you've been asleep for a couple days, right?" Nolva nodded. "I thought so! Bro Roger's getting ready to go to bed, and I can't really be mad about that since he's been out since like really early in the morning, but I'm still wide awake! Do you want to play some cards or something?"

"Ah, I haven't really played too much before, b-but if you're willing to teach me I'd love to play," Nolva said.

"Nyaha," Kittyeyes said, smiling widely. Nolva felt her heart still a little, enraptured by the sight. Seeing Kittyeyes so happy to be spending time with her was a lovely surprise, like what she imagined an unplanned birthday party would be like, or how her dad had described feeling when her mother had told him he was going to be a father. "Come on," Kittyeyes said, taking Nolva's hand and bringing her back into the main room. Enthusiastically, she brought out a deck of cards and taught Kittyeyes how to play a basic game of Twenty-One.

"So I-I just want to get as close to 21 as I can without going over?" Nolva said.

"Yep! This game's really simple, so I thought it'd be a good one for a beginner. And you can still have some fun with it!" Kittyeyes said, shuffling the cards. She dealt out a couple cards to each of them and then looked at her face down card, her brow furrowing in concentration. Nolva found the picture adorable, and almost forgot to look at her own face down card. Quickly, she gave a glance at her card. It was the two of...clubs, she thought? It might have been spades, but she wasn't sure. Her front card was the queen of hearts, giving her a grand total of 12, if she understood the rules correctly. Kittyeyes had the seven of diamonds showing, but Nolva had no clue if that was good or bad. Kittyeyes put her other card back on the table. "Hmm, ok, I guess I'll go first, as an example. Hit me."

Nolva gave her a shocked look. "Wh-what? I-I couldn't do that!"

"Nya? Oh! I forgot," Kittyeyes said, sheepishly. "'Hit me,' just means I'll take another card."

"O-oh," Nolva said, relaxing. "I d-didn't expect this game to be so violent," she said, reaching for a card.

Kittyeyes laughed. "Yeah, I don't know why it means that, but those are the rules," she said, shrugging. Nolva flipped over the card she'd dealt, revealing the 5 of hearts. Kittyeyes thought for a second, before nodding. "Alright, I think I'll hold there. Now it's your turn!"

"Ah, r-right," Nolva said, looking at her face down card again nervously. "Um, h-hit me?" she said, still not trusting the phrase.

"Here ya go!" Kittyeyes said, flipping over the top card to reveal the four of spades.

"So adding the four means I'm now at 16," Nolva thought. "That seems a bit low. But there's so many ways for me to go over 21." Out loud, she said, "I-I think I'm good with that."

"You sure?" Kittyeyes said. "Alrighty then! On the count of three, we'll both flip over our face down card, and then whoever's closer wins! One," she said, gripping her face down card as Nolva hurriedly did the same. "Two," she continued, lifting the card up. "Three!" she finished, slamming the card face up on the table, while Nolva flipped hers over. Nolva looked over at Kittyeyes card and saw the six of hearts, making Kittyeyes' grand total 18. Nolva let out a small sigh of disappointment. "Ah, looks like I win this one. But don't worry! We can keep playing."

They started a new round. This time, Nolva had a three and an eight to start with, while Kittyeyes showed a nine. "You can start this time," Kittyeyes said.

"Ok," Nolva said, feeling a little more confident. "H-hit me." Kittyeyes flipped over a card, revealing a six. Nolva, feeling a little more confident at 17, decided to hold there.

Kittyeyes looked at her face down card and bit her lip. "Mm, hit me," she said. Nolva flipped over a three for her. Kittyeyes took a little time to look at Nolva's cards, then back to hers. "Hit me again," she said. Nolva flipped over a four, causing Kittyeyes to smile widely. "Nyaha, that makes 21!" she said, flipping over a five.

"And I was feeling more confident with a 17 too," Nolva said sadly, putting her cards back.

"I got pretty lucky that time," Kittyeyes said. "But I think you can come back in round 3!"

Over the course of the next half-hour or so, they played many more games of Twenty-One, and though Nolva only won about one game out of every three, she felt happier than she had in quite a while. Kittyeyes always managed to encourage her whenever she lost, and in the downtime between rounds, she managed to learn a little more about Kittyeyes. She and Bro Roger had been living together since the fall of Atlas, almost. She used to have a pet wolf, but it'd gotten too strong and run away, and she wished he'd come back, or at least visit occasionally. Novla, despite thinking that would be remarkably impressive behavior for a wolf, also saw from the look Kittyeyes had when talking about the wolf (Koll, apparently), that she truly believed he'd be able to visit and leave again. She learned that Kittyeys and Roger had a friend named Jeff who visited occasionally. She also saw some more sides of Kittyeyes that made her smile. When she lost, she'd let out an adorable cry of frustration before bouncing back and almost demanding another game and when she won, she'd smile so confidently it felt like looking into the sun.

But the most obvious thing she learned was that Kittyeyes loved Roger deeply. Whenever conversation turned to him, Kittyeyes would have a faraway look in her eyes, and smile as if imagining something wonderful. She talked about him a lot, in a way that made it seem like she owed him her life, though when Nolva asked, she wouldn't speak about it. Her face grew sad and a little scared, so Nolva quickly changed the subject, hating to see her that way. Kittyeyes gratefully took the way out, and eventually things got back to near normal.

After their fifteenth or so game, Kittyeyes took a moment to stretch, causing Nolva to blush and avert her eyes. "Hey, Nolva," she said, settling back into her normal posture. "I noticed something." Nolva let out a noise of affirmation, refocusing on Kittyeyes. "You never get another card once you've hit about 16. Why is that?"

"Ah, well I don't want to go over 21, and once I hit 16 I feel like I'm way more likely to uh...'bust,' I think you called it?" Kittyeyes nodded. "So I choose to stop there."

Kittyeyes contemplated that for a second. "I guess that makes sense," she said after a bit. "But if you never take a chance on the long shot, you're almost never gonna get 21. I used to do the opposite all the time - always go for exactly 21 even if I had a 19, or even a 20 sometimes. But that doesn't work too well either. Sure, sometimes you get extremely lucky and get exactly 21, but most of the time you'll just bust. Bro Roger taught me that sometimes you have to aim lower than what your true goal. But I think you need to work more on getting up to what you want. Sure, if you have 16 you're more likely to bust than to get 21, but the odds aren't too bad. And if you don't go for higher, someone else definitely will."

Nolva's head was spinning. She hadn't expected Kittyeyes, the person who'd spent the last few hours laughing and teasing to say something so serious, and seemingly out of nowhere too. "Um, y-you-" was all she got out before Kittyeyes cut her off.

"Ah what am I doing? Sorry, I got lost in my own head there," she said, stifling a yawn. "I think I've managed to get tired enough to go to bed. How about you?"

"Oh, I, yes I guess I'm tired enough," Nolva said, still trying to figure out how the serious Kittyeyes vanished so quickly.

"Mission accomplished, nyahaha," Kittyeyes said. "You can sleep in the same bed you've been sleeping in, if that's cool with you?"

"Oh, sure," Nolva said. "T-That's fine." Kittyeyes nodded giving her a thumbs-up and a small smile before walking towards the door Roger'd gone through. "U-um!" Nova said loudly enough to catch Kittyeyes' attention. "I-If you need-ever need, that is, to, um, talk to someone, I-I'd be happy to listen." She inwardly cursed herself for stuttering so much.

Kittyeyes looked troubled for a second, but quickly covered it with a smile. "Ah, well I'm sure we'll talk tomorrow. Gotta find your case after all!"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Nolva said, chiding herself internally. Of course they weren't at that stage, they'd known each other for less than a day. It's just-Kittyeyes had looked so upset, and Nolva wanted to help her so badly. Putting it out of her mind, she managed a small smile. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. See you tomorrow morning."

"Nyaha, I hope so. Don't go falling back into a days-long sleep on us!"

"I-I won't," Nolva said, embarrassed.

"Oookay," Kittyes said teasingly. "Good night."

"G-good night," Nolva replied. After hearing the door close, she let out a small sigh, before gathering up the cards and putting them in a nice stack. On a whim, she shuffled them up and dealt herself two cards - a jack and a six. Biting her lip, she drew another card and, without looking at it, flipped it on to the others. She stared at the card, then smiled and put the three cards back on top of the deck. She didn't know how she could draw such comfort from such a small thing, but it still had felt great to see that five. She went into her room, changed into the pajamas Kittyeyes had provided for her, and climbed into bed. Despite still being worried about her case and feelings about Kittyeyes, she felt a little hopeful as well. With a smile on her lips, she easily fell back into slumber.


End file.
